I've since learned that wage theft in Missouri is governed by contract law, so if an employer doesn't pay the employees as promised, the only remedy is for the employee to sue. But it's a crime to pay less than minimum wage.
So I wanted to know what the MO DoL did to investigate Agape and these allegations. Last week, I sent this Sunshine request to MO DoL:
Here's the response I received back: There are no documents responsive to my request.
tldr: @AGEricSchmitt received reports from POLARIS about human trafficking at Agape. It does not appear he sent those to the MO Department of Labor to investigate. MO DoL did not investigate. #Slavery
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First, the law of wages is in Chapter 290, RSMo. It's got general provisions, provisions for paying prevailing wages, a part to make sure women aren't paid less than men, and the minimum wage part. Let's talk about paying minimum wage. revisor.mo.gov/main/OneChapte…
A few years back, St. Louis decided to raise the minimum wage in the city. The legislature came back and said "nope." They were quite adamant about it, too. revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSectio…
After the news yesterday about Agape, I took a look at the auditor's reports about Cedar County (where Agape is located) since 2000. auditor.mo.gov/AuditReport/Re…
More detail. This is especially concerning in light of yesterday's @KCStar article about children being taken by transport companies to religious boarding schools.
But - on a hopeful note - it wasn't someone who is well-known or powerful who started this conversation. She did it on a small-newspaper budget as a recent graduate.
You don't have to be a community leader or have power or money to make change. This one started small.
This story, from 20 YEARS ago, about the lack of services for kids who really need help and how that drives them to unlicensed, unregulated schools that harm kids, is sickening. docs.google.com/document/d/1KA…
Parents who do not agree with the philosophy of the school still sent their kids there because of a complete lack of community services. No mental health services available. Cannot get access to therapy. Can't get help through the school. There is, literally, nowhere else to go.
""I don't know of any good options for these parents, " said Tom Kennedy, an Alton lawyer who helps parents fight for additional special education services from school districts."
Strap in for yet another thread about Medicaid problems in Missouri. I've been in office since 2017 and have only paid attention since then. But Family Support Division has had enrollment problems since quite some time before then. 1/ missouriindependent.com/2022/08/16/for…
In 2013, Missouri hired EngagePoint to implement its comprehensive, fully-integrated systems for DSS eligibility, enrollment and case management system. 2/
Missouri then went on to purchase a license for software that EngagePoint objected to. EngagePoint said the software was faulty and worked to fix it. 3/